Greasepaint Lipstick
by WrittenDayDreams
Summary: Skyler is trying to start a new life in Gotham as a journalist, but when a date-gone-wrong causes her life to unintentionally collide with both the Joker's and Batman's it changes all of them forever. (Joker x OC) (Batman x OC)
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

* * *

The train was crowded with its usual lot of people when Skyler squeezed her way onto it at 7:08 am. It was a cloudy morning, characteristic of most in Gotham and as she made her way to stand at her usual handrail, just a few feet away from the train doors, she allowed herself to think about how sunny it probably was in California at that exact moment.

Her thumb instinctively brushed along the inside of her wrist, over the tattooed sun that she had gotten just after her mom's death. She missed very few things about her past… but she couldn't deny that she missed the ever-present California sun and its caressing warmth.

A disgruntled snore tore her from her thoughts and she looked at the homeless man that had emitted the sound. He slept with his worn shoes cradled in his hands and his body curled up against the window. Her heart ached for him. At some point during the night police officers would sweep through and clear the homeless people off the train, but they would be back again hours after the sweep which, of course, was a temporary "solution" put in place by people who wanted to pretend there wasn't a permanent problem. The streets of Gotham were flooded with desperate people who had nowhere to go which no doubt contributed to its incredibly high crime rate.

She took in the other familiar faces on the train, the weary-looking mother with a three-year-old sitting on her lap, jabbering excitedly about something and pulling on her mother's hair. An old lady who sat a few rows in front of the mother with a copy of Gotham Times in her hand. She was undoubtedly reading about the latest mayhem that was corrupting the city. A man with a cane who sat in his usual window seat across from the lady reading Gotham Times hummed some tune that Skyler didn't recognize.

She contemplated how strange life was and how cruel it was that some of these people would spend their whole lives this way, living a rinse and repeat ritual of scraping together just enough to survive the day only to start all over again the next.

Her gaze shifted to the graffiti that was ever-present on the steel train walls and she noted a new crudely painted image that had been added to the mix. Right above the door with a giant red "X" that looked like dripping blood painted over it, was the Batman's symbol.

The pull of the train and the roar of its breaks as it began to skid to its next stop made Skyler's heart jump. Every morning like clockwork, at the stop after hers, a man came on to the train that made it impossible for her to think a single rational thought.

She didn't know what it was about him that did it. Maybe, it was his icy blue eyes or the way that he always had a playful, knowing smile on his face. Or, maybe it was that every time he came on the train his hand held a different beat-up paperback than the one he had been carrying the day before. Whatever it was, she couldn't deny that she was attracted to him in a way that she hadn't been attracted to anyone in a very long time.

The older lady who was looking over her newspaper glanced up at Skyler with furrowed brows and she realized that she was probably smiling like a loon. She couldn't blame the woman for her look of confusion. It was so unusual to see a smiling face anywhere in Gotham these days, especially at the ungodly hour of 7 in the morning.

The train jolted to its stop and Skyler's feet danced beneath her in an attempt to keep her balance. She perked up as a mob of people simultaneously entered and exited, and then there he was. His tall frame bobbing behind six or seven others, his head buried in a copy of Paradise Lost. He adjusted his glasses with his free hand as he shuffled to his usual handrail.

In a moment that might have been missed had she so much as blinked, the man she had nick-named Dorian Gray after the first book she had seen him reading, looked up and locked eyes with hers. He smiled. Her heart flipped. Lately, she lived for these smiles. The next stop was mumbled overhead and she pulled her backpack straps tighter over her shoulders, preparing to disembark.

When the train once again came to a stop, Skyler maneuvered around the other passengers toward the exit. Just as she was about to take her final step off the train, Dorian Gray's hand shot out so quickly that she had been sure, for a moment that she had imagined it. Her hand tingled as though a million mini fireworks had gone off in it as his skin came in contact with hers and a piece of paper was crushed into her palm by his fingers. Then she was pushed by another train passenger, out of the car. She looked back just in time to catch the twinkle in Dorian Gray's eyes before the train rushed off to its next destination.

Unable to wait, she opened the paper to reveal a neatly written line: _Meet me at the Blue Moon Lounge tomorrow night at 9 pm_ , and for the second time that morning, Skyler found herself smiling like a crazy person.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

* * *

The Cracked Egg was already bustling with people when Skyler showed up for her shift a short half hour later, and the smell of bacon grease and bleach infiltrated her nostrils as she walked through the back hallway and into the break room.

Charlotte looked chipper as ever. Her red hair was pulled into a perfect bun at the top of her head and her crows feet stretched as a laugh ripped through her. She stopped mid-conversation with Melissa, her sister and the owner of the restaurant, to shoot Skyler a huge gap-toothed smile.

Charlotte had taken Skyler in on her first day in Gotham, a little over a year ago. She had been sleeping in her car right outside the Cracked Egg when Charlotte took the liberty of pounding on her car window and asking what the hell she was thinking, "A young girl sleeping in a car in this part of town!" and if she had a death wish.

After pulling her inside and feeding her a huge breakfast, she then had told Skyler that she would start working for her the next day and that she could stay in her apartment for the time it would take her to find her own. She had known that Skyler was in trouble and had needed help.

"Alright, pretty lady, don't think you can sneak past me without tellin' me what's making you smile like that." Charlotte's voice chirped as she returned Skyler's hug, squeezing Skyler with all her might, "Got something on your mind? Or rather someone?" she winked at her.

Skyler could feel her cheeks warm at the allegations.

"No one!" She replied trying to keep the topic of her silly crush to a minimum.

Lydia, not looking up from her magazine, grumbled from across the table,

"He ain't no one if he makes you smile like that in this hell hole of a city."

Skyler let out a small laugh because Lydia wasn't altogether wrong.

"It really isn't anything exciting. I swear. If anything happens I'll tell you."

She knew she probably wouldn't actually tell them if anything new happened but she hoped that Charlotte might buy it anyway, which she didn't. Charlotte put her hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, replying with a knowing, "Uh huh." and then returning her attention back to Melissa.

Skyler felt herself smiling as she tied her apron in a neat bow behind her back before making her way out to the restaurant which was already bustling with people trying to get a quick, cheap bite to eat before heading off to do whatever they had planned for their day. Every Green vinyl seat and booth was filled with blurry-eyed people.

The first half of her shift went fairly normal. The regular who needed his coffee refilled every ten seconds had been there yet again, she had needed to bring one meal back to the kitchen because the customer complained it had "Too much cheese!", and there was the smattering of horribly messy customers that left no tips in their wake which was annoying but not unusual.

Then, an hour before Skyler was supposed to clock out, two men came into the restaurant and made a bee-line to the corner table of her section.

Taking one look at them resulted in her having to stifle a groan. The both of them were wearing big jackets and hats that obscured most of their faces. Not typically a good sign in Gotham.

Although the Cracked Egg was located in a "better" part of the city, they still got people that made her gut scream to run away. Her stomach churned. Charlotte's advice was always to just be "sweet as pie" and serve the scary ones as quickly as possible to get them out at lightning speed. So, Skyler planned on doing just that.

When she reached their table with her paper pad already clasped in hand, she took a brief moment to evaluate just who she was dealing with this time. The man on her right had a tan, bony face and cold, emotionless eyes. A snake tattoo completely took over the left side of his face. Some small part of her brain screamed mob when she looked at him. Whether or not this assumption was true, however, she would probably never discover… and she was completely okay with that. _Out at lightning speed._

She couldn't help the sharp intake of breath she took when her eyes shifted over to the man on the other side of the table. A man with gruesome scars elongating his lips into a Glasgow smile. He looked vaguely familiar… but of course, she didn't know him. She shook the silly notion of familiarity out of her head. She didn't associate with people that gave her the vibe these two men were giving off now. Besides, it hadn't been the first time she had seen jagged scars on a person's cheeks. The Joker's rise to infamy had only made them a more popular torture tactic among victim's of the crime world. She couldn't help but shudder at the thought of what it must feel like to have someone saw on your face.

Snake man's deep voice almost made her jump out of her skin as he muttered dangerously, "So are you just going to just stare at him all day sweetheart or are you going to take our orders? I mean I know he's quite the looker but I'm starving."

Skyler's hands started to shake and her eyes widened. She hadn't realized that she had been staring for as long as she did. It was as if she had been broken from some kind of trance. Horribly embarrassed, she tried to correct the mistake she had made in front of men who she really did not wish to make any more mistakes in front of.

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean-" she stopped herself and scrunched her eyes, starting over, "I'm Skyler I'll be taking care of you today, what can I get for you?"

Snake man's eyes stayed stone-like as they slowly traced up and down her body in a way that made her want to squirm, "I'm sure you will. I'll have coffee and a double slam with extra sausage."

She willed her hands to stop shaking as she wrote down the order, but her writing came out looking like a four-year-old's who had just started learning their letters.

Her eyes shifted back to Glasgow man and she tried with every fiber of her being to not look anywhere but his eyes, which were half-obscured under his wide-brimmed hat. As soon as their eyes met she could see them glimmering in some sort of dark amusement.

"And for you, sir?"

"Coffee, and the steak and eggs. Eggs scrambled and the steak rare."

His hazel eyes unnerved her. She felt like she was drowning. She had forgotten how to breathe.

"Of course! Coming right up."

When she finally got to the sanctuary of the kitchen to give Joe their orders she had to wipe the sweat from her palms onto her skirt. She willed herself to take some deep breaths so she wouldn't pass out. She couldn't understand why her body was acting like this, but she knew one thing for sure: Whoever those men were, they meant nothing good and she wanted to get them out as quickly as possible. _Lightning speed._

"You doing alright? You look pale." Joe shouted from behind the grill.

Skyler knew she couldn't trust herself to be able to speak in that moment so instead, she nodded and hung up the order for the table before grabbing a couple of glasses for the men's coffee and water.

As she neared the table to set down the warm cups of coffee, their voices got quiet and then they stopped altogether as if they were discussing some top secret plan she had no business hearing. She set down their coffees and mumbled that she'd be right back with the water.

When Skyler neared the table once again, cups of water in hand, the Snake man changed his position, sticking his foot out just enough that hers hooked onto his. Before she could even process what was happening, the water was in the air and she was on the ground. The glass seemed to fly in slow motion before hitting Glasgow squarely in the chest and exploding water all over him. Her mouth flew open. Her heart stopped. Oh no. No. no. no. no. Please tell me that didn't just happen. Skyler inwardly begged to whatever God might be listening.

Snake man all but growled, but Glasgow did something that had utterly surprised her. She had expected a string of expletives or a huge commotion over how clumsy she was, but instead, he had let out this loud cackle of a laugh. Each "ha" distinctly pronounced.

I could die right now and be completely okay with it, she found herself thinking.

Then, before she fully knew what to do about the situation, Skyler's hands had grabbed the napkin from the table and had begun mopping up the water off of Glasgow's lap. She was kneeling in front of him in a way that probably looked to everyone else in the restaurant incredibly erotic.

"I am SO sorry… I... "

His laughter only grew and it was then that she had realized she was basically rubbing his crotch with her napkin with the ferocity of a high-class prostitute. Stunned she fell back, napkin still in hand.

Arms pulled her from the ground and within moments Lydia's tense face was inches away from hers, "Go ahead and clock out. I think you've done enough damage for one day."

All of the eyes in the restaurant were on her.

In any other circumstance, Skyler may have argued that she could carry on with her shift, but she was so strangely affected by everything that had happened that all she could do was shake her head and run to the break room in embarrassment. Right before she made her escape, Glasgow's eyes locked with hers for another short moment. They were shining with pure delight.

"I'm so sorry," she repeated.

The sense of shame she had felt as she had hung her apron on its hook and clocked out for the day was intense. Charlotte was probably out there trying to make sure those men wouldn't come back and bomb the place. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before walking back out.

As she left the restaurant, she swore she could feel Glasgow's eyes burning into her back and goosebumps slowly crept over her body. If she never saw him again it would be too soon.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

* * *

After spending the night wallowing in pizza, wine, rocky road ice cream, and crappy reality show reruns, Skyler went to work the next day in a bit of a haze. Charlotte had assured her that everything had turned out fine the day before, but she still had a lump in her throat.

Dorian Gray had been strangely absent on the morning train. This had been the first time in almost a year that he wasn't on it. Everything just felt… weird. She also couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. The entire morning she had found herself looking behind her back and feeling this on edge certainly didn't help her mood.

The school newsroom had its usual five people typing away at various desks when she made it to Gotham University mid-afternoon. She made her way over to an empty desk, grateful that Professor Harrington had given them an extra day to finish up the article that was assigned to them. It was a fairly easy introductory assignment where they were to pick a professor from the university and detail all the good they'd done in their lives. Snore.

Her hand fished around her backpack for a pencil but it instead closed around the paper that Dorian Gray had given her the previous morning. Pulling it out she stared at the line of perfectly written words. A smile cracked onto her face. If she had had any doubts about going out that night they were all whisked away in a moment. She knew that she needed a change of scenery, something positive to lift her mood after her shitty day yesterday. So it was settled. She'd go. It would be fun.

She printed out her article to proofread it, and as she gathered her papers from the printer in the center of the room, she could hear audio from a news clip coming from Dylan's desk. She drifted over to stand behind his chair.

Tara Hanks, a channel four news anchor, was on the screen with "Cara the Clown" a semi-popular and incredibly rich up-and-coming pop star. Skyler could feel her eyes roll in their sockets at the sight of Cara in heavily exaggerated makeup on the screen. Everything about her screamed fake. She reminded Skyler of just about every person she had been forced to go to private school with in California.

"- and you're going to be kicking off your Carnevil concert tour right here in Gotham?"

Cara smiled, her cat eyes twinkling with sexuality, "That's right. It's going to be like nothing you've ever seen my little dearies." She let out an excited giggle that made Skyler want to gag, and Cara's perfectly manicured hands turned into spirit fingers, splayed out on either side of her body. She stared straight into the camera and said, "Bring in the clowns."

Skyler's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "Wow."

Dylan glanced up at her from his seat, "Its disgusting right?"

Skyler nodded still staring at the screen which had frozen on Cara's face.

"Bring in the clowns? Seriously!?... as if Gotham didn't have enough of a clown problem without her encouraging it."

Dylan grinned a little, "Do you think he'll show up?"

She knew by the tone of his voice exactly who he was referring to and she shook her head.

"Even the Joker has to have standards. Her so blatantly wanting him there will probably pique his interest but…" she trailed off. Maybe the Joker would be there. No one ever really knew what was taking place inside his crazy mind.

He nodded, interest still showing in his eyes, "She had to have paid the city a hell of a lot of money to allow her to do a tour like this in Gotham with everything that's been happening… it'd make for one great headline though... If the 'clown prince of crime' did show up." He paused, and a smile crept onto his face.

"I might just show up and see how the whole thing plays out."

Skyler's mind kept reeling, playing and replaying Cara's voice saying "Bring in the clowns!" Although she had always found the Joker to be fascinating, a journalist's wet dream really, a voice spoke from deep inside her.

"You do that. I wouldn't risk touching the Joker with a ten-foot pole. I like being alive."

He laughed, "You're in the wrong field if you aren't willing to take risks Skyler." he let out before swiveling back to his desk.

She couldn't help but feel slightly irritated and… oddly amused as she had walked away from his desk. Her mind was filled with ideas of what an interview with the Joker would be like.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four:**

* * *

Skyler felt as though she had been looking into her closet for ages. She had tried on three different skirts, a handful of shirts and dresses, and more pants than she even knew she owned.

She was never really one to worry about how she looked and yet something about tonight terrified her. She knew it was a stupid fear. After all, Dorian Gray had already seen her every morning on the train in her work clothes. There was no need for her to 'prove' anything to him. He had seen her on a daily basis and he obviously didn't think she looked like an ogre or a troll… unless he was into that sort of thing and _that_ was why he'd asked her. She shook the stupid thought out of her head and her hand shot into the back of her closet. She grasped a beaded hem between her fingertips and brought out a dress that she had forgotten she even had.

It was too dressy for the situation surely... after all navigating to the blue moon had brought up a picture of a bar. A classier bar but still a bar nonetheless and yet as she pulled out the black beaded 20's style dress a smile began to form on her face. It was time that the dress had a night out.

Trying it on revealed that the dress was just a little tighter than the last time she had worn it but after a few hard tugs the zipper stayed up. It was perfect.

She was a bundle of nerves as the elevator doors opened to reveal a packed club.

Music was playing loudly and she could feel the bass deep within her stomach, the steady thrums matching the beat of her heart.

The view of Gotham's moon-lit skyline could be seen through the floor to ceiling windows on the opposite side of the dance floor and it took her breath away. She felt herself being drawn to the window to get a better look of the view.

She navigated between the thrashing, grinding bodies on the dance floor, her eyes focused on the stars outlining the tall buildings in the distance and the lights of the bridge over the bay, and almost walked directly into a man who had stepped out in front of her.

His eyes traced up and down her body in a way that made her stomach drop.

She tried to manuever herself around him, but his hand shot out and grabbed her hand.

"Let go of me."

"Let me buy you a drink."

"No, thanks. Take your hand off of me."

Her body immediately went into fight or flight mode, and had a calming voice not come from behind her at just that moment she was prepared to hit this asshole square in the face for not taking no for an answer.

"She's with me."

Skyler knew without having to turn around or ever even having heard his voice who it was. Dorian Gray. The man who was holding her dropped her arm as his face lit up in recognition. "Sorry James, I had no idea. I just knew she was too hot to be in here by herself." He let out a laugh and Skyler felt like she wanted to vomit. Then him and James… ugh she had liked calling him Dorian so much better, exchanged a look that she couldn't quite decipher before the asshole turned and walked away.

She turned her attention to the anomaly before her that was the man on the train. His blue eyes twinkled as they locked with hers and her hands itched with the sudden want to run them through his dark, messy hair.

"So... James, huh?"

He looked confused for a moment before letting out a small, deep laugh.

"How crazy is it that we've seen each other practically every day and we don't even know each others names? Yeah. I'm James… and you?"

"Skyler"

"Ah," he nods, "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

She could feel a blush shade her face at the cheesy pick up line. If it had come from just about anyone else she probably would have laughed in their face and walked away, but for some reason the way he said it drew her closer to him.

"We should have done this forever ago. Do you want a drink?"

A drink sounded wonderful. She nodded and his fingers entertwined with hers as he led them up to the bar in the center of the room.

They shouted their orders over the bar to the bar tender and James slipped him some cash. Her heart fluttered at how magical it felt that he was there… and that they were actually talking! Then, an uneasy thought struck her. _What happened after this?_ Would they end up in one of their apartments with their clothes strewn across the floor… only to wake up the next morning and never acknowledge this night had ever happened? Did they set up another date? Could whatever this was right now even be considered a date?

James handed her her martini and she gratefully took a huge sip.

His eyes lingered on her face as if he were trying to read her expression.

"It's weird to see you without a book in your hands." she joked, taking another long sip.

"Yeah… I figured I probably shouldn't bring one on a first date, you know? I didn't want to give you the wrong idea."

The corners of her mouth lifted. _Date_. He had said it… it was official. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach.

They finished up their drinks, exchanging stories about the craziness that was living in Gotham. Then a new song came on, slightly slower than the other ones.

Skyler plopped the olive from her martini into her mouth.

"Dance with me."

She looked at him in surprise, shaking her head slightly.

"Oh no, I don't dance."  
He laughed.

"You do now, c'mon."

He reached out his hand and helped her off the barstool.

"Alright, but you've been warned. Don't come after me when you have broken feet."

She loved hearing him laugh, loved being the one to make him laugh. Her heart was singing with happiness.

Then, as she was swaying against him, the first wave hit. She lurched toward him slightly, feeling out of breath.

"Woah… are you okay?" James looked at her in concern.

The room swam around them.

"Yeah… just. Wow. I'm dizzy."

Everything was a blur of color and noise.

"Here, lets go get some fresh air... it might help."

She must have nodded then, but she couldn't be sure.

They went to the stairwell next to the elevator, and a muted alarm went off somewhere inside her at the sight of a red sign on the door.

He had to practically carry her up the stairs and then, they were on the roof. The air felt nice and they were up high. So high above the rest of the world. She felt giddy and worried and… confused. How had they gotten there again?

Two fuzzy figures walked towards them and she had to squint to even slightly make out their forms.

"We've got our Rachel." one them shouted. Letting out a whoop and laughing.

Skyler's mind felt groggy. _Who was Rachel?_

"Will you save her too, Batman?" The other shouts.

She let out a tiny laugh, at the name _Batman_. Because in all of the confusion, it seemed funny that his was the only name she recognized.

Then they start chanting. Over and over they start shouting "Batman. Batman BATMAN!" in drunken jeers and it wasn't so funny anymore.

James began to bring her towards the edge of the roof and she knew quite suddenly that something was very, very wrong. She shook her head and tried to pull away but it only made the three of them laugh.

"She can't even move dude."

James grabbed her arm roughly and pushed her so that her legs were dangling off of the side of the building. A scream erupted from her. He turned to look at his companions.

"Say it!" He said darkly, laughing.

"Let her go!"

There was a short pause and Skyler could feel her blood rush through her as her fear felt like a fire enveloping her whole body with flames.

 _This was it. This was how she was going to die._

"Very poor choice of words." James laughed before letting his fingers slip away from her arm.

The world rushed past her as she began to free fall to the ground a few thousand feet below and another scream erupted from her lungs.

Suddenly, a force hit her that didn't quite make sense because she was falling down and this… whatever it was, came at her from the side, crashing her through glass and into the side of the building.

Glass. Glass was everywhere. Shimmering on the carpet like glitter. She felt herself hit the floor but she didn't feel pain.

The world around her pulsed, closing in on her until she was surrounded by a deep, profound darkness.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five:**

* * *

Blinding white lights caused Skyler to scrunch her eyes shut as soon as she opened them. She thought, for a short and blissful moment, that maybe she'd died and gone to heaven. After all, what else could explain why she was surrounded by lights so bright it felt like they were burning through her?

Then the pain set in. Her body felt as though someone had hit her repeatedly with a baseball bat and her head was pounding. She thought that she might throw up and had to roll onto her side to try and make the nausea dissipate.

A steady repitition of thoughts thrummed through her: _Where was she?_ and _What had happened last night?_ and _Where was she?!_

She dared to crack her eyes open again, squinting through the brightness only to realize that she was definitely not in heaven. It took a couple more blinks for the room around her to pixelate into view.

She was in a metal bed with starched white sheets. White sterile walls surrounded her and on the wall in front of her hung a generic pale blue sail boat painting.

Her neck tensed up as she turned to get a better look at the room. To her left was a worn-down wooden chair and, past that, a window that showed that she was a couple of floors up from the parking lot outside. To her right was a blue granite counter and cabinets.

On top of the counter were glass jars with qtips and cotton balls and tongue dispensers inside.

She pushed herself higher up on her pillow and felt a pull against her inner arm. Her heart sped up as she realized that an IV had been stuck into her vein.

 _She was in a hospital._

Panick set in.

 _Why was she in a hospital?_

She tried to remember anything from the night before but it was all a blur of random moments. The last thing she could remember clearly was stepping out of the elevator and into the bar.

 _The bar-_ _What had happened at the bar?_

Her breath increased rapidly as a panic attack started over her. The heart rate monitor beside the bed started beeping crazily. The lines jumping rapidly up and down.

A nurse rushed into the room.

"Everything's okay." she ushered in a silky, calm voice. "I just need you to take some deep breaths for me. In through the nose and out through the mouth."

She demonstrated for Skyler who replicated what the nurse doing. It helped a little.

"What happened?" Skyler asked, her voice sounding raw to her own ears, "why am I here?"

A flash of pity quickly raced through the nurses eyes.

"Someone will be in here very soon to talk to you about that."

Skyler could't understand why _she_ couldn't talk to her about it but her tongue felt heavy. She didn't want to waste her energy arguing.

Almost as if he could hear the nurse saying this, a middle aged man with graying brown hair and a moustache came into the room.

His glasses framed his warm brown eyes and Skyler took in his dark brown coat and tie as he positioned the chair beside the bed to face towards her before sitting himself in it. Whoever he was, he gave off an authoritative vibe that normally would have made Skyler nervous, but there was also something about him that calmed her.

"Miss Barduga, I'm Commisioner Gordon of the Gotham police department."

Skyler's heart stopped. Something serious had to have happened for the _commisioner_ to make a special visit.

He unfolded the newspaper that he had in his hands, showing her the front page. A huge picture took up the bulk of it and for a moment she didn't understand why he was even showing it to her.

The picture was of Batman crouching in glass on a carpeted floor. _Glass. Glass was everywhere._ He was hovering over a girl, supporting her with his arm and his knee and looking into her face... Skyler let out a small gasp of disbelief as recognition washed over her. He was looking into _her_ face. She couldn't quite grasp what she was seeing. The girl in the picture was her. In the photo her eyes were open and dazed, looking directly into the Batman's almost lovingly. It was a beautifully shot, Batman hovering protectively over a girl in a beautiful beaded dress, but it made her want to scream. How could she not remember?

She opened her mouth to speak but had to close it and take a breath before trying again.

"I- I don't understand."

And then Gordon revealed the top portion of the newspaper, the headline.

 **Batman: Out of Hiding to Save Secret Lover!?**

Skyler found the headline to be comical. _What a cliche!_ And yet, she couldn't bring herself to laugh.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" the Commisioner asked warmly, no accusation in his voice whatsoever.

She again tried to think about what had happened at the bar. Slowly, blurry visions popped into her head in quick bursts. " _We've got our Rachel"..."Let her go"... "Batman. Batman. BATMAN!"_

Dorian's face appeared in her mind and her heart felt as though it was about to shatter. _Glass. Glass was everywhere._

How could she have been so stupid?

The commisioner took her silence as a no. "We retrieved some video footage from the building you were at last night and we were able to decipher a lot of information. The nurse said that I could tell you what we found out, but only if you felt up for it. What do you think?"

She nodded her head slowly.

He ran a hand through his hair. "It would appear that last night the men that you were with decided that they wanted to recreate a crime scene that occured at a party some time ago. I'll spare you most of the details but you should know that the Joker dropped a woman out of a window much like how you were _dropped_ -"

The world around Skyler seemed to freeze and she was suddenly back on the roof top dangling in open air and then falling… falling into nothingness. She could remember the feeling of crashing through glass and... _Glass. Glass was everywhere._ She noticed that Gordon had stopped talking. Concern brimmed in his eyes.

"I think that's enough for today. You need rest-"

"No!" It came out louder than she had intended for it too and he looked a bit taken aback. She closed her eyes and took a breath.

"No, please I… I need to know."

He nodded. "We speculate that these men are Joker enthusiasts… people that either work for the Joker or that are obsessed with his motives. Batman saved that woman at the party and he saved you too… it's a miracle that you're alive."

She let his words sink in and realized the truth in them. It was a miracle. How the hell had Batman been in the right place at the right time to save her?

A hysterical and bitter laugh bubbled up out of her and she rubbed her face with her hands.

The commissioner stood up and put a steady hand on her shoulder, calming her.

"Why me?" she asked.

His brown eyes looked into hers. "I'm not sure… sometimes there's no method to this… this madness. I wish that there was something more I could offer you but… I think they chose you because you were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"How many other newspapers is that picture in?" she asked feebly.

He looked at her with concern lining his face, "You want the truth?"

She nodded and he let out a tired sigh.

"The picture's everywhere, Skyler."

She stared blankly at the wall in front of her. From this point on she would forever be marked as the Batman's mystery girl… and she couldn't even remember meeting him.

Gordon cleared his throat, "We have eyes everywhere looking to find the men that did this to you. I'm going to do my best to see that you get the justice you deserve."

Skyler's throat felt dry and she desperately wished for a glass of water.

"Thank you." she said, hoarsely.

He nodded and set the newspaper down on the seat he'd just gotten out of before pulling a business card out of his pocket and placing it on top of the newspaper.

"I'll send in the nurse and let you get some rest. But, I want you to call me if you need absolutely anything… or if you remember anything that you think might be helpful. We'll also need to get written and verbal statements from you but I want you to take a couple of days to get over the shock of all this." The look in his eyes was sincere so she couldn't help but give him a little smile to try and show him how grateful she was.

Then he was gone. The room felt considerably less safe without him in it.

A couple minutes later, the nurse came back in with some water and handed it to Skyler, who had never been so happy to see water in her life, before looking at the clip board in her hands. Skyler sucked it down through the straw relishing in how cold and delicious each sip was.

"You're looking good in regards to your vitals... actually aside from some deep bruising, your body is in good condition. It would appear that…. he … uh, that... the Batman took the brunt of the fall when you crashed through the window. We also ran a blood test on you and found high traces of Ketamine in your system-"

Skyler stared blanky at her.

"- a date rape drug." She explained, "The drug is out of your system but the memory loss associated with the drug can be a very traumatic experience which is why I'm assigning you to see a therapist once a week for the next couple of months. Other than that you're free to go whenever you feel ready. We can't legally keep you, but, I really do encourage you to stay one more night. You could use the rest."

She put the stack of papers on top of the pile on the chair. "Just let me know."

Skyler debated leaving and going back to her apartment but she couldn't help but feel that maybe the nurse was right. One more night here knowing that she was in the safety of hospital personnel watching over her comforted her in a way that she knew she wouldn't be able to be comforted alone in her apartment.

Her eyelids drooped heavily as she pulled the hospital blanket tightly around her. She drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six:**

* * *

Skyler woke to the sound of a cart being rolled into the room. A nurse, different than the one she had the day before, was pushing in a tray with a platter on it.

"Good morning", her deep voice let out gently.

Skyler groaned. She wanted to roll over and continue sleeping but instead she just stared sleepily at her.

The nurse laughed, "I'm not really too much of a morning person either, but I thought you would be hungry."

Skyler's stomach grumbled unwittingly in response and the nurse brought the tray up to her. On it was grayish oatmeal with sugar, a fruit cup, and a glass of water. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

"Thank you."

The lady nodded and made her way out of the room, pausing in the doorway,

"Let me know if you need anything else," she said before closing the door behind her.

Skyler devoured the bland hospital food within minutes and gingerly got up from the bed to place the tray back on the cart.

She tested her muscles carefully, rolling out her neck and arms. She was tense and sore but she was alive.

She made her way to her purse which was now on the counter. A cop had to have gotten it from the bar and dropped it off while she was sleeping. It's strap was broken but the contents inside still looked okay.

She tied the broken parts of the strap together and fished inside for her cell phone, turning it on. It flashed up to her that she had six missed calls. All of them from the Cracked Egg… Charlotte was probably freaking out because she had a shift yesterday and she didn't show. Shit. She should have had someone call her.

Skyler groaned, looking at the time. It was ten and she had another shift scheduled that day at one. Although she knew she couldn't actually work a shift she had to at least let Charlotte know she was okay. If what the Commissioner said was true, then she would have seen the photo by now.

She called the Cracked Egg and the line kept ringing so she turned on the hospital television while she waited, figuring they must be busy. Tara Hanks was on her usual set up for "Good Morning Gotham" and behind her, plastered on a screen was _the_ picture.

 _Fuck._

She shut off the tv, annoyed, and realized that the phone was still ringing with no answer. She ended the call and tried again. Still no answer. She gnawed on her lip. Charlotte never let the phone ring for this long. Something felt wrong.

She really just wanted to curl up in the bed and sleep the day away but she knew she had to let Charlotte know that she was okay and she had to get home.

She pulled out the flats she had stashed in her purse and slipped them onto her feet. Then she looked around the room and realized she had no idea what had happened to her dress and she couldn't really going walking through Gotham with her ass hanging out of a hospital gown.

She clicked the "call nurse" button on the side of the bed and got to work shoving the paperwork Gordon and the nurse left for her on the chair into her purse.

The breakfast nurse came back in. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah everything's fine. I just have to get going. Do you know what happened to my dress?" Skyler asked.

The nurse paused, "GCPD took the dress for evidence but I can get you some scrubs."

"Scrubs will work just fine, thank you."

A few minutes later she was dressed in a pair of purple scrubs and her hair was thrown up in a messy bun. When she exited the restroom, a cop and her nurse were waiting for her in her room. Her heart rate instinctively sped up.

"Is everything okay?"

The cop held his hand out for her and smiled.

"I'm James Cordova. Commissioner Gordon sent me to escort you to your apartment."

Her eyebrows shot up. It was a nice gesture… but it was also a little odd.

"I wasn't aware I needed an escort. Is something wrong?"

He looked uneasy, "You'll see why he sent me on our way out."

Cameras flashed from every angle and microphones were shoved in her face as reporters screamed over each other, trying to get their questions heard.

"How do you know the Batman?"... "Over here! Yes, here! What do you have to say to the people of Gotham?"... "How did you-" … "What do you think-"

The questions meshed together and Skyler tried to cover her face as officer Cordova parted the crowd in front of her. She couldn't breathe until she was safe in the back of his police car.

Officer Cordova looked over at her from the front seat, through the metal mesh bars separating them. She had never been in a cop car before… Then again a lot of things had happened to her lately that she could safely say had never happened before.

"Alright. Which way to your apartment?"

Charlotte. She needed to see Charlotte.

"Actually, would you mind if we made a stop first?"


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven:**

* * *

She could tell the moment they pulled up to the restaurant that something was off. When she stepped out of the cop car there was an unnatural quiet perpetrating the air that gave her goosebumps and the sidewalk, normally crowded with people, was vacant. She took a look through the window. The lights were off. The hair on her arms rose… there was no reason for the Cracked Egg to be closed today.

Something was wrong.

Officer Cordova got out of the cop car and pulled out his radio, making an anouncement of his location to somebody. He glanced over at her.

"Stay here."

She nodded and watched him disappear through the doors of the restaraunt. A minute went by… then two… she couldn't stand just waiting outside.

She inched toward the door and made her way inside. The lights were still off and Officer Cordova was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?" she called out.

No answer.

"Cordova?... Charlotte?" she tried again.

Only silence greeted her.

Her fingers found the light switches and she flicked them on.

When she saw the sight in front of her she wished that she had never opened the door.

Lydia was hanging from the ceiling fan in the center of the restaurant. Her brown eyes wide open and her mouth agape. Her neck had been slit several times and her bright, crimson blood dripped down her body and formed a puddle on the floor.

A scream erupted from Skyler and her body launched into action, she turned to run back out the door and instead ran into a tall, hard body.

She looked up and felt bile rise up in her at the sight of red, scarred lips twisting up into a smile, revealing a set of yellowed teeth.

Strong arms twisted her body so she was turned back towards Lydia and a gloved hand covered her mouth. Her breath came rapidly in and out of her nose and she struggled to get out of his hold by elbowing him in the gut.

"Ah ta ta." He giggled into her ear, tightening his hold on her. "Scream or struggle again and I'll kill one of them next."

She didn't understand what he meant until a masked clown came out of the kitchen with a knife held up to Joe's throat followed by Officer Cordova with his handgun held to Charlotte's head. Tears formed in her eyes and she shook her head, screaming "No" into his gloved hands.

"So here's how this is going to work." he grumbled into her ear, now pulling up a knife so it rested painfully at the base of her throat.

"You and I are going to take a, uh, little trip." he licked his lips. "And, you're going to do everything I say… because if you don't, well…. your friends die." he laughed gleefully.

Charlotte's eyes locked with Skyler's and she could sense Charlotte's fear. She tried to convey to her that she would do everything she could to save them.

The Joker smacked his lips again behind her, his chin practically resting on her head, "So, uh, what's it going to be doll? Surrender or death?"

She muffled into his glove for him to take her but it came out more like "mmff ee"

He laughed darkly, "Whoops. Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. One more time."

He took his glove off of her mouth and the words stuttered out.

"T-take m-me. Just… leave. them. alone."  
He laughed again cruelly, "Well... if you insist." and then everything went dark.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight:**

* * *

Skyler's mind reeled with every bit of information she had ever learned about self defense. One of the most important was to never let the predator take you to another location… and yet here she was sitting in a vehicle with a pillowcase over her head and her hands tied roughly behind her back. Here she was sitting so close to the Joker that his knee was touching hers.

Anger boiled up inside of her at the thought of how much some of the people in her Journalism class would've loved to be in her position.

 _Why wasn't this happening to one of them instead of her?_

This was all because of the stupid picture. One stupid picture and a headline. It had to be. There was no other reason for the Joker to have his target set on her. She hated not being able to see. She hated feeling so helpless about the situation she was in.

"Is the pillow case really necessary?"

The van went silent.

She felt the Joker lean closer to her.

"Y'know… you remind me of someone I once knew. She was beautiful... just like you. The, uh, the thing was though she didn't know _when_ to keep her mouth shu _t_. Ruined all my _fun_ …. and I didn't like that so much."

The way he said it sent a shiver down her spine.

"There's less of a chance of _you_ ruining the fun if you don't know where you are"

He patted the top of her pillowcase-covered head with his gloved hand.

"It's nothing personal… I just don't want to have to kill ya before the big charade."

The car jolted suddenly and gained speed, causing Skyler to fall unceremoniously into the Joker's chest and lap. She tried to jolt off of him but it wasn't an easy thing to do with the way her hands were tied.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back onto the seat, laughing.

"Plenty of time for _that_ later."

Her whole body tensed at the sexual tone that was laced through his voice. It sent a shudder through her. She couldn't wrap her mind around the thought of anybody ever doing anything sexual with the Joker.

Sirens went off somewhere behind them and the clown in the driver's seat sounded like he had just run a marathon as he let out a breathy, "Shit."

The Joker stiffened next to her. "Damn it Wheezy! I thought I told ya we had to get this done discreetly."

Wheezy sounded scared shitless as he replied, "Sorry Boss. I'll get him off our tail."

He accelerated sending Skyler's head crashing painfully into the seat in front of her. She couldn't help the string of expletives that came from her mouth.

She could only hope at this point that by some miracle the cops would catch up to them. With officer Cordova... _if that was even his real name_...sitting somewhere in this van though, she knew that she couldn't really trust anyone to save her.

The van shook and she could hear the sound of bullets ricocheting off of metal, followed by a screech of tires and an explosion. She instinctively ducked and the Joker let out a celebratory "Whoop!" beside her. Now a part of her was glad that she couldn't see. She had seen enough death and destruction for one day.

The ride carried on for a while longer before it came to a stop and Skyler was roughly pulled out and thrown onto hard cement, causing her knees to scrape on the ground.

"Ow!" she cursed under her breath.

"Shut up!" a gruff voice said pulling her up off the ground and practically dragging her as she tried to keep up with his long strides.

The Joker clicked his tongue from somewhere in front of her.

"That's no way to talk to our _guest_!" His voice was laced with disapproval directed towards whoever was holding her.

"Oh.. _wheezy_?" He continued, in a sing song voice.

Wheezy's breathless voice came from somewhere behind her. "Yeah, boss-?" a gun shot burned loudly in her ear and it echoed through whatever parking garage they were in. The sound of Wheezy's body hitting the ground made her stomach lurch.

"Uh-oh" He tsked, "Looks like I'm gonna need a new driver!"

Skyler tried to not think of all the dead people… and failed miserably. She had to get out of this… she hoped Charlotte and Joe were still okay.

After a considerable amount of walking and being thrown over someone's shoulder and carried, Skyler was sat in a cold metal chair. Her already tied hands got secured again tightly, this time to the chair, and someone else got to work on taping her ankles to both of it's legs.

The pillowcase was ripped off her head and she took in the room around her. It was large and empty aside from the camera mounted on a tripod in front of her. A clown was setting it up, making sure that the lense was facing her. A shock of worry shot down her spine.

 _Why would he want to film her?_

Her mind jumped back in time to the horrific video she had watched with Dylan and Jessica in the news room at school on the day it was released. The video of the Joker torturing and killing a man who had been impersonating Batman. A shiver went up her spine and her mind was sent into overdrive.

 _He was going to kill her._

A few other clown men entered the room then, followed by The Joker himself. The sight of him took her breath away. His characteristic purple suit hung over his body and for the first time her mind wondered what kind of torture devices he harbored inside of it.

His eyes locked on hers, a smile playing on his lips.

"The show starts in ten!" He said to his men, his eyes never leaving her.

He came closer and knelt so his face was level with hers.

"How's my star?" He asked, his eyes reguarding her inquisitively.

"I can give you money." She blurted out stupidly. It was a lie and she knew it. She didn't have money… but she was willing to speak to her Father for the first time in years if it meant getting out of this alive.

The Joker rolled his eyes in disgust.

"What is it with people _always_ thinking I want their money?" He reached his gloved hand up to her face and the feeling of the worn leather sliding gently down her cheek made her shiver. "What you offer me…"

He grabbed her chin and held it so she had to look directly into his eyes, "What you offer me is worth so much more." Her heart dropped into her stomach as his smile turned into a frown, his scars still curving up in a frightening juxtaposition.

"Please… I'll do anything. I'll give you anything just don't kill me."

His eyes glittered and he burst into a short eruption of laughter, " _those_ are some veeeerrrry dangerous things to say hahahahah… offering yourself up to do _anything_ that a dangerous clown like me desires…" He licked his lips and smiled. "I'll think about it." He winked.

She immediately wanted to take it back. Of course she hadn't meant she'd do _anything_. Death was better than some things.

She started praying to whatever higher power there might be in the universe... _If she did die please just let it be quick_.

He looked to a couple of his men. "She looks a bi _t_ too pretty. I need her a little roughed up... Not enough to make her unrecognizable." Then he looked back to her and shrugged. "Normally I'd do the honors but I don't want to get my gloves dirty before the shoot." He crinkled his nose and wiggled his fingers at her.

It didn't even occur to her what he had asked his men to do before one of them decked her hard across the face.

She couldn't help the scream that erupted out of her at the unexpected assault.

The blows continued for a few moments longer, stinging her face and making her feel numb somewhere deep inside, before his voice stopped them in their tracks.

"That's enough." He examined her once more.

She could taste blood seeping in through the side of her mouth. If she made it out of there alive she vowed to herself that she would tear the clown bastard apart with her own two hands. The look on her face must have been feral because when his eyes locked with hers again they transformed into orbs of curiosity and a smile once again tugged at his scars.

He went behind the camera and clicked a few buttons before stepping behind the chair and digging his fingers into one of her shoulders. His other hand wrapped in her hair and pulled her head back to look at him. "No interuptions unless you want Charlotte or Joe to be cut into a bunch of teeny tiny pieces. Understand?"

"Yes." she grit out through her teeth.

Then he twisted the camcorder off the tripod, which he promptly kicked into the corner of the room. A red light turned on to signal that the camera was rolling.

His voice went into a higher register as he looked into the camera, laughing.

"Hellooo world of Gotham." He licked his lips smiling. Then, he turned the camera to face her.

"I have a message for a verrry special Bat." He laughed.

Skyler felt the tears start to flood down her face as fear gripped her. She hated that this was probably exactly what he had wanted… for her to look terrified. The thing was though that was exactly what she was; Terrified. He pulled a knife out of his coat and came back behind the chair again, pulling it up to her throat and yanking her head back so she winced and looked into the camera he had now held out to show the both of them.

"What's your name beautiful?" He grumbled into her ear, just loud enough for the camera to pick up on its microphone. She could no longer think of words or how to formulate them, everything around her felt a bit like a dream… or a nightmare. Then, he painfully nicked the knife into her throat bringing her back to the present moment. "ANSWER ME!" he barked.

She felt a dribble of blood slide down her throat and her mouth took over for her, "Sk-Skyler Barduga." she let out in a quick, raspy breath. He erupted into laughter again and let go of her, circling around so he could bring the camera close up to her face. "Orrr as most of Gotham probably knows you by now... you're the, uh, Bat's little love bug." His laughter continued intermittently, "Oh Batsy… I have _great_ news for you." He licked his lips sloppily and ran his fingers through his hair, turning the camera back towards himself. "You see you and I… we're going to play a little game. You have an opportunity to save your, uh, little _squeeze_ one more time before she quite literally blows a large amount of Gotham's citizens to smitherines. The fun part is... that you won't know when or where this is going to take place!" He became breathless as a bought of laughter overtook him once again.

He cocked his head to the side and squinted his eyes into the camera, letting out an exhasperated sigh. "All right. All right. I'll give you a hint." He smiled, putting his eye up to the lense. His voice deepened, "You have three days to find her… and, um, if ya don't find her by Friday." He made an explosive noise with his mouth and his hands mimicked a bomb. "Annnnnd you can bet if you wait until the last day it's going to be quite the spectacle… you can trust me on that one. As you know, I am a man of my woorrrrd." He laughed again, and switched the camera to view Skyler one last time before the red light shut off.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

"He's not going to save me."

The Joker swiveled toward Skyler, the camera still in hand.

"Aw, of course, he will. He'll try to at least." He smiled widely.

"No… he really won't. The Batman doesn't even know who I am."

He quirked his head and raised an eyebrow. The expression on his face was curious. He made her feel like she was about to be given a pop quiz with no correct answers.

"So you, uh, know who he is then?"

The question made her pause. Of course, she didn't know who the Batman was. He could be anybody. She guessed that was probably the point of the Batman being masked. In a different situation, she might have even reflected on how this symbol he had created was oddly beautiful. Then, she remembered that the man in front of her was also masked in a sense and that there was nothing beautiful about it at all.

"No, of course, I don't."

He twirled a finger into her hair and leaned in closer to her ear. She could smell him; a unique mixture of greasepaint and gunpowder. It made her heart race.

"Well, then how do you knowww he doesn't know you?… besides it really doesn't matter either way. He isn't going to risk you blowing up his beloved citizens."

"If you think I'm going to hurt anybody for you you're even more psychotic than I thought."

He clicked his tongue and pulled her hair tightly.

"Funny… I don't remember saying you would have a choice."

Her head began to ache from the pressure of his hand in her hair, but she tried not to wince. She didn't want to let on that he was hurting her.

She hated him.

The thought must have read on her face because he laughed and let go of her hair, circling her so that he was in front of her once more. He remained standing, and she could feel his presence in front of her, but she refused to look up at him.

"I'm curious to see how everyone is going to react when they realize that their precious Batman can't even save the one person they've labeled to be the love of his life."

Anger built up inside of her.

"I'm not the love of his life!... and I'm not going to let you use me as bat bait."

His eyes darkened to match the color of the makeup surrounding them, and then… just as suddenly, they changed drastically from black to hazel as laughter racked through his body.

"Ha ah ha ah ha… Bat bait."

He took off a glove and wiped his eyes, smearing black makeup onto his pale hand.

"Oh, that's a good one, you're funny…"

He walked out the door, still laughing, and slammed it behind him.

Great… she was actually being held hostage by the Joker. This was really happening.

She tried to hear what was going on in the next room, but aside from some indistinct mumbling, she couldn't gather anything of importance.

She considered her options.

Option #1… she could try and break out and run. She tested her wrists and ankles against the tape and rope attaching them to the chair and sighed in frustration. The holdings were tight and would be almost impossible to break out of. Almost.

Option #2 was to… well… wait it out and hope she survived. All of Gotham was looking for her now... Batman was looking for her. Even knowing this though, she still didn't have much confidence that she would be found in this room.

She struggled again against the tape on her arms, pulling her elbows away from each other with as much force as she could to try and get the tape to break. The chair screeched loudly against the floor and she froze. The seconds came and went slowly until she finally felt like she could breathe again. Either no one had heard the noise, or they didn't care.

She sighed. Why should they care? Even if she had managed to get out of the damned chair there was no way that she alone could get past the Joker and all the men in the next room.

Even so, one thing was for sure... she couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

She continued her attempt to free herself with little results and a half hour later she was still sitting in the chair with her limbs aching and feeling even more exhausted than she had been when she started.

She gave her arms another vicious tug, more out of anger than a belief that it would do anything, but a miracle occurred; the tape snapped. She let out a deep breath and a tiny smile formed on her lips. Blood seeped back into her mouth from the punches she received earlier and served as a cruel reminder of the situation she was in and how much worse it could get.

She got to work on the rope tying her hands behind her back, which luckily seemed to have loosened a bit from when they were first tied at the cafe. After a few minutes that felt like hours, she had managed to shimmy one hand out of the rope and the remainder slipped off her other wrist and joined bits of tape on the ground. She ripped off the tape on her ankles, not really believing that she had been able to get out of her restraints.

She knew better than to get excited though… an uneasy feeling seeped into her stomach as she went to the boarded up window and took a peek through one of the gaps in the wood. Her stomach dropped when she saw how high up the room was. She had to be at least twenty floors up from the ground level.

Adrenaline rushed through her. She didn't have much time. It had taken long enough to get out of the chair and she knew the someone could come in at any minute. Her eyes wandered to the door that no one had been exiting or entering out of. Opening it revealed only an old bathroom.

A crash from the next room sent her moving and she crouched down to the tripod the Joker had kicked into the corner, twisting out one of its legs so she held a heavy metal pole in her hand.

The door opened from across the room and the Joker's humming preceded him. When he closed the door behind him his eyes went to the chair, then to Skyler standing in the corner with the metal pole held up like a baseball bat.

His eyes flashed.

"Not a smart move girlie... tell me… what were you gonna do now that you're out of the chair, huh? What was your grand plan?"

She gave him a small defiant smile and raised an eyebrow, trying to appear somewhat put together despite the fact that she now knew that she was fucked.

"Would it have been smarter to just let you torture me in the chair?"

His lips spread wide across his cheeks but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Torture… torture, huh?"

His hand reached inside his jacket and he pulled out a small knife.

"Ya know. I wasn't even considering it.. but, uh, since you clearly know aaaall about how I do things, I wouldn't want to let you down."

His tongue lashed out against the side of his lip and his eyes flashed darkly as he flipped open his blade and lunged at her. A scream erupted from her but she brought the pole down hard on his shoulder, distracting him long enough to narrowly duck past him and run to the opposite side of the room.

"Ohohoh…. You really shouldn't have done that."

His face turned murderous and she flung herself out into the other room and straight into his mob of goons watching tv. A bald one in the center of the couch eating popcorn stopped mid-chew.

All their gazes shifted towards Skyler at the same time. The looks in their eyes resembled dumbfounded dogs but they soon transformed into hungry wolves.

Then the shouting began as all of a sudden they started lunging to their feet. She whacked the nearest man with the pole, hard, resulting in a loud, "I'm going to kill you, you fucking slut!" before taking off running again.

She was almost to the door when one of the biggest men she had ever seen stepped in front of her and slammed her body to the ground hard. Her breath escaped her at the impact and she couldn't move, it felt like thousands of sharp, tiny knives were shooting throughout her entire body.

Then, she heard his laughter and her blood ran cold.

His footsteps reverberated through her school as he slowly walked towards her and crouched over her. He pinned her down with his legs, looking down at her from up above like she was an exotic animal in a zoo. His eyes glimmered.

"Ya know, I'm all for playing games. But-ah I can guarantee that what I find to be fun you probably won't like quite as much."

He brought his knife up to her face and slipped it a fraction of the way between her lips. The blade nicked her tongue slightly and filled her mouth with the feeling of the cool metal and the metallic taste of her own blood. Her eyes flickered to his scars and she whimpered, suspecting what he was going to do.

"It's curious; you just can't seem to stop looking at my scars." He licked them again for emphasis and smiled. "Do they scare you? Hmmm? You, uh, you want to know how I got 'em?" His voice dropped to a gravelly whisper as he pushed the knife into the corner of her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation and her body went numb as white-hot panic coursed through her. Blood filled her mouth and fear like she had never known lit a fire in her veins so fierce she almost blacked out. She felt like she could die right then. Then, he pulled his knife out.

He playfully slapped her other cheek and she opened her eyes only to find his dark orbs staring down at her cheek where the knife had been. With his still gloved hand, he smeared a drop of her blood across her cheek in an upward curve.

"It would be a shame to ruin such a pretty face before the big event but if you try running away again… I'll tell you a joke so funny you'll be smiling even after your death."

He chuckled a little at himself as he got off of her. Her body instinctively curled into a defensive ball.

He sighed, in exasperation and grabbed her by the shoulders, lifting her up.

"Now, it looks like we're gonna be shaking things up a bit."

He shook her shoulders before lifting her roughly into his arms, resulting in his painted face being only inches away from hers.

"Since I can't trust you to be smart and not try to escape again… it looks like you'll be staying with me."

He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled at her before dragging her across the room and opening a door. A second later she was thrown onto a bed.

Her mind was jumbled, and every part of her body was screaming with pain from all the events of the last few days. She tried to hang on to the world around her but it slipped through her grasp. The last thing she remembered was her face up against a greasepaint covered pillow.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

* * *

A ray of sun drifted between the holes in the thick wooden boards covering the window and assaulted Skyler's eyelids, causing them to wince open. Sun. She ran her thumb over her tattoo on her wrist and rubbed her eyes.

The spot next to her on the bed was empty, but as her hand trailed over the wrinkled mass of sheets they felt warm. Her stomach dropped at the thought of what that meant.

Fear ripped through her as the events from the night before replayed in her pounding, aching head. There was a big patch of dried blood on the pillowcase and her hand tenderly went to the cut on her mouth. Her face was swollen and puffy and her tongue accidentally hit the cut from the inside. The pain almost doubled her over.

This was going to get infected if she didn't clean it up.

She looked around the room and could see an open door across from the bed she was on. Her hands shook as she slowly limped her way over. It was a bathroom, she noticed that the room had a nearly identical layout to the one she had been in when she was tied to the chair.

When she looked into the mirror that was hung above the sink she almost vomited. She couldn't recognize the pale, bloodied, bruised, mess that looked back at her. Dried blood lined the entire side of her face where she had slept. There was also blood caked in her hair. She was surprised by the fact that the incision he had made was less than a centimeter, he had really only pressed his knife against the corner of her mouth, and yet she had bled so much. It hurt so much. She didn't know how he was still alive. How much blood had he shed from getting the entirety of his cheeks sliced open? Her stomach rolled with another wave of nausea so she turned on the sink faucet to rinse the blood out of her mouth, she gulped up as much water as she could to try and offset the blood she had ingested and hopefully settle her stomach.

The world around her swayed at the pain that came from the water assaulting her too-tender cut and for a moment she thought she might black out again from the pain. The only things on the counter were tins with greasepaint: white, red, black, two greasepaint, oil-covered washcloths and a grime-covered soap bar. She took the soap, hoping it wouldn't worsen the chance of infection and slopped off as much of the top layer as she could before lathering her hands in it and working it through the blood on her face and her hair. By the time she had finished a very mediocre cleanup, her hands were white-knuckled and clasping on to the edge of the sink. She barely made it back to the bed in time before the pain sent her into darkness once again.

Ha ha HA ha HA ha HA HA!

Endless hazel eyes. She was back at the Cracked Egg. In a time that now felt like a different life. She was scrubbing up the water off his pants and he was laughing at her. The world around her distorted and she was falling down and down and down into an endless black and white vortex. Then, she was tied to the chair, in front of the camera. "What you offer me is worth so much more." The same hazel eyes. The same laugh.

Ha ha HA ha HA ha HA HA!

She jolted awake. Her eyes frantically searching and her breath only calming as she realized she was still alone. His laughter had just been in her head.

She pushed herself up against the wall and the movement sent a sharp pain through her body. She took in pieces of the room that she hadn't been able to grasp the first time, a folding card table that had been pushed into a corner and a folding chair, with various items of clothing strewn on it. The table was full of bits of papers and a small bin on the floor beside it was overflowing with take-out cartons and trash.

Her head was pounding. She had no idea how much time had passed. Three days. He had said the Batman had three days to find her. She wondered the significance of the number. Three. Her dream played over and over in her head. The Joker and the Glasgow man from the Cracked Egg were the same person. She felt stupid for taking so long to figure it out. He had been there since the beginning. Since before her near-death at the bar with Dorian Gray.

The door flew open and her heart nearly exploded with fear as he entered. She scooted into the very corner of the bed, her legs folding in towards her. He was carrying a pizza box and had half a slice hanging out of his mouth. The smell was orgasmic but the thought of putting anything in her mouth made her stomach lurch yet again.

Patches of his greasepaint were smudged off of his face, revealing small areas of pale skin. She wondered briefly if he slept with the stuff on. She was pretty sure that he did.

He devoured two slices in half a minute, eating like a rabid and starving wolf.

She stayed curled up in the corner hoping he would forget about her existence. He didn't. His gaze shot over to her.

"Are you hungry?"

The question threw her off guard. She looked at him skeptically.

"No." she lied, her voice sounding hollow.

He looked at her, his eyes a now familiar hazel brown… _Why her?_ It was a question she would never be able to shake.

"You sure ya don't want a slice?"

He asked like he wanted to know if she would like him to slice her open again with one of his knives. She shook her head. He smiled.

"Suit yourself."

He shoved another slice into his mouth before abruptly shoving himself off the bed. He flung the plate onto the overflowing trash can beside his makeshift desk and went into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him.

When he came back out his greasepaint was freshly applied.

"It was you. Wasn't it?"

The question made him freeze.

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that sweetheart. What was me?"

"The bar. The photo. All of this." Her hand referenced the room around them. "It was you."

"I think you already know the answer to that."

His voice had none of the fake falsetto of the Joker. This was the man before he had immersed himself in the character. This was the backstage version of him. His voice was low and warm, and oddly Skyler felt she was in more danger with this man than she was with the Joker.

"Why me?"

She finally voiced the question that had been haunting her. She didn't expect an answer from him, but he moved to the desk and pushed papers to the side. He fished through a stack and pulled out two small papers. He laid them face down on the bed and then threw his coat over his suit and walked out the door.

Once the door was shut she scooted her way over to the papers and took a breath, knowing that this could be yet another trick in his bag of games. She flipped over the first paper and staring up at her was a photo of herself. Her senior year photo from Red Lake High.

She hesitated and then flipped over the second sheet of paper to reveal a woman who could have been her twin. There were differences between them, sure. For starters, Skyler's features were lighter. Her hair was blonde while the other woman's hair was dark and her skin a bit paler and yet… there was no denying the striking resemblance. Their high cheekbones and full lips, the shape of their eyes, the shape of their faces. She knew without needing anyone to tell her that the other woman staring back at her was Rachel.


End file.
